Friday, May 15, 2020 - 09:24

Picture by Mari Montegriffo

A storm is brewing as the GSD accuses the Government of 'ramming through' sharp increases in parking fees.

Said the GSD: "The Government's announcement that it will increase parking from £65 to £95 per month at Europlaza, New Harbours, Theatre Royal and Engineers Lane, representing a 47% increase have been announced without public.

"Further increases of up to 50% are anticipated for other car parking areas. These latest measures cannot be seen in isolation. They follow similar price hikes in the MidTown parking."

HASTY MOVE

These measures are being rammed through without public discussion let alone public consultation, they say. Other traffic measures are being expedited and implemented in a manner that is too hasty and does not allow proper planning or other supportive measures to be put in place.

The GSD add that traffic, transport and parking are key areas of policy which affect the lives of all in our community and there are a myriad of views on recently announced package of traffic and parking measures.

The recent announcements have led to widespread confusion as to the detailed rationale for the measures which are ultimately framed around discouraging the use of cars on our roads on environment grounds.

Detailed modelling and expert advice needs to be taken in order to ensure that these measures will work and they have taken into account the impact they will have on the wider community.

"The language and messaging on the measures appears to radically change almost daily. On the 4th May the Chief Minister announced what he described as "bold" road closures by 1 June. The Government press office then pushed out language describing road closures as "partial" and now it appears that the public are being fed the line that the closure will now look and feel like a "road restriction". These measures were being rushed by 1 June when insufficient planning had been carried out and any consultation carried out from now till the end of the month can only be cursory," said the GSD.